Enter a name, company, place or keywords to search across this item. Then click "Search" (or hit Enter).
Volume 020-1 - January 1966 (2 pages)
Go to the Archive Home
Go to Thumbnail View of this Item
Go to Single Page View of this Item
Download the Page Image
Copy the Page Text to the Clipboard
Don't highlight the search terms on the Image
Show the Page Image
Show the Image Page Text
Reset View and Center Image
Zoom Out
Zoom In
Rotate Left
Rotate Right
Toggle Full Page View
Flip Image Horizontally
More Information About this Image
Get a Citation for Page or Image - Copy to the Clipboard
Go to the Next Page (or Right Arrow key)
Page: of 2
Nevada County Historical Society
Vol. 20, No. 1 February 1966
NEVADA THEATER, 1865
By Doris Foley
The need of a theater building designed for the convenience of presenting theatrical performances by accomplished
thespians, Jed to the formation of the Nevada Theater Association in 1863. The lot
and ruins of the Bailey House Hotel at the
corner of Broad and Bridge Streets was
purchased in February 1865, and work immediately commenced on the present theater, The wreckage cleared away, many
bricks from the 1860 hotel were retrieved
and used in Nevada City’s seventh
theater.
During its construction, national events
took a dramatic turn. President Lincoln
was assassinated in April of that year.
John Wilkes Booth hiding in a barn near
Bowling Green, Virginia, was shot. Edwin, his famous actor brother was never
known to smile again. Jefferson Davis
was captured and the Lincoln conspirators executed.
On the eccasion of its first opening,
July 1865, a dance was held as a means of
defraying construction costs. The hall
was beautifully decorated with flags and
evergreens and brilliantly illuminated
with gas lights. The Nevada Quadrille
Band furnished music for the popular
dance routines of the day. Young ladies
dressed in crinoline or flowered muslin
and escorted by partners crowded the
floor while chaperones kept a watchful
eye from the gallery. The midnight supper, a featured attraction, was served in
the hall of the Hook and Ladder Company, located just above the present City
Hall on Broad Street, by Alex Gault
whose shop is known today as Kopp’s
Bakery.
An add for the Theater Ball written onc
hundred years ago is as follows:
“Let all attend the Theatre Ball tonight! Those who do not dance will
find comfortable seats in the gallery.
It is a benefit to the town and every
citizen should buy a ticket on that account. In addition to this there will be
a good supper and excellent music.
We hope to see the building crowded.
Show that you are interested by contributing to aid the enterprise.”
The receipts for the first ball were
$1000. Numerous dances were held in the
theater to help defray the expenses involved in its construction. The level floor
had been built with this in mind. The
building was accoustically perfect. When
William B. Campbell, local artist, completed the drop curtain and scenic effects,
the theater was in readiness for its first
production.
The opening night, September 9, 1865,
featured Dan Satchell as Von Dunder in a
two-act comic drama, “The Dutch Governor,’”’ and Sophie, Irene and Jennie Worrell, famous for their dancing and burlesque performances of fairy tales, in
their inimitable “Cinderella.”
George Jacobs, mining partner of the
Hon. A. A. Sargent, bought the building
in 1871, climaxing Nevada City’s theatrical history. A glittering array of talent
appeared before the foot lights during his
time, Mark Twain lectured on his trip
to the Sandwich Islands; Jack London related his exciting experiences; Anton
Zamlock, the great magician, freed himself from a rope-tied trunk; and the lyrical voice of the Cornish singer, Richard
Jose, thrilled Nevada City audiences.
The most outstanding event occurred
in 1891 when Nevada City welcomed home